This invention relates to an information communication network utilizing a plurality of high bandwidth wireless links, and more particularly to providing tariffing based on actual use of the network for information communication by subscribers.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art solution for providing telephone and data services to a business or subscriber. A subscriber 126 is connected to a central office (CO) 115 using, for example, one 1.544 Mbps T1 line connections 101. The subscriber usually buys or leases this T1 line from a telephone service provider company (telco), such as a regional bell operating company (RBOC), at a predetermined flat rate cost, such as $1,500 per month. A subscriber with communication requirements exceeding those serviceable by a single T1, whether such demand is an instantaneous bandwidth requirement sufficient to demand the temporary capacity of multiple T1 connections or a continuous bandwidth requirement only slightly larger than a single T1, may purchase or lease multiple T1 line connections, such as T1 line connections 103 and 104 coupling subscriber 127 to CO 115.
The central office may communicate signals to and from these connections, such as T1 lines 101-104, to/from a service provider or other point in the communication network, such as ISP (Internet service provider) 120, through the point of presence (POP) connection 114. The POP connection 114 is generally composed of one or at least a fewer number of T1 lines than that existing between the central office and the subscribers coupled thereto, requiring the subscribers to share the bandwidth between the CO 15 and the POP 114.
Accordingly, a drawback to this solution is that a subscriber, while paying for a T1 line, is often not receiving the full T1 throughput. Specifically, although the subscriber is provided T1 service between the subscriber location and the CO, the CO to service provider connection may be concentrated to the point that any particular subscriber is unable to realize their purchased bandwidth through the signal path coupling the subscriber with a particular service provider.
Moreover, the subscribers, especially in the data communication associated with data processing systems, such as those often coupled to an ISP of the above example, often have large instantaneous bandwidth requirements surrounded by prolonged minimal or nominal bandwidth requirements. For example, a data processing system coupled to another data processing system through CO 115 may require the download of a significant amount of data for a particular task, followed by a period of processing the downloaded data substantially without communication through CO 115. Accordingly, the connection provided between the subscriber and the CO may provide less bandwidth than desired for such instantaneous demand although a significant amount of bandwidth remains unutilized at other times. The subscribers are often forced to accept this solution due to their inability to afford the actual bandwidth utilized for bursts of information. Therefore, they accept the next closest constant bandwidth that is cost effective and provides tolerable communication speeds.
Similarly, where a subscriber has a relatively constant demand which exceeds the capacity of one or a combination of available links, i.e., requires 2 Mbps which is slightly more than the 1.544 Mbps available through a single T1 connection, the subscriber is required to purchase or lease additional links to carry the overflow demand, such as a second T1 connection to carry the remaining 0.456 Mbps, although the full capacity of this second link is not required. The subscribers are often forced to accept this solution because there is often no lesser increments of bandwidth available for purchase or lease to the subscriber. Therefore, they accept and pay for the next increment of offered bandwidth irrespective of the fact that only a fraction of this bandwidth may be needed and used.
In the above example of T1 lines, even ignoring the bottle neck associated with the service provider""s limited number of connections to the CO, the subscriber will only have approximately 1 Mbps available to him at any time due to the capacity of the T1 line. This rate may be significantly slower than the data rate of the subscriber equipment (e.g., where a 100 Mbps user network is involved). The speed, for example, with which a web browser installed at a subscriber location can bring up a page is a function of the speed with which the received data is transmitted to the user location (i.e., the bits per second (bps)). Currently, to transmit a web page to a subscriber typically requires 17 Kbps of data to be moved to a subscriber""s computer.
Obviously, increasing the bandwidth or pipe of the transmission line will increase the speed with which the data can be received (e.g., 17 Kbits of data transmitted over a 100 Mbit bandwidth is extremely fast as compared to 17 Kbits of data transmitted at 33 Kbps). However, as suggested above, purchasing additional bandwidth to service such needs is often cost prohibitive. The lack of economy in marginal increases in bandwidth is caused in part due to the practice of present telco""s, or other provider""s, tariffing schemes. Specifically, the tariffing schemes in common use typically cannot determine how much data is transmitted or received via the link and, thus, is not a measure of the actual bandwidth utilized by the subscriber.
For example, flat fee billing, also known as xe2x80x9call you can eatxe2x80x9d, is a tariffing scheme where the fee the provider charges does not reflect the subscriber usage. Subscribers are billed a set amount each billing period, typically monthly. Examples of services using flat fee billing rates, in addition to the above example of purchased T1 lines above, are local phone calling (residential) and dial-up (analog modem) Internet access. The flat fee billing scheme is simple for the service provider to implement and operate because it is architecture independent; the operator just prints a bill directly. In addition, flat fee billing is also easy for users to understand and to use in predicting what their service cost will be for any period.
However, flat fee billing creates several disadvantages for the network operators. For example, since the tariffing method does not differentiate between heavy users of the service and light users, low level users who increase their usage do not make any increased contribution to revenue while heavy users do not pay in proportion to their associated costs. Moreover, as there is no incremental cost to the subscribers, low level users may actually be incented to utilize more bandwidth than needed. Accordingly, this scheme tends to skew sales thrust to potentially light users. Further, the only way to increase revenue using flat fee billing is to enlarge the subscriber database.
Another common tariffing scheme for information communication links as described above is to monitor only the connection time, i.e., when the telephone is off hook and an information communication link is established, along with the type of service utilized (e.g., ISDN, dial tone), to determine a charge for the service provided. This tariffing scheme is sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cconnect timexe2x80x9d billing. According to this scheme, service providers accumulate information regarding the amount of time the subscriber is connected to the system. The connection time information is collected over a billing cycle period and the subscriber is billed in proportion to the amount of time they where connected to the service provider""s network. Examples of services using connect time based billing rates are cellular (local calls) and business ISDN Internet access.
The connect time tariffing scheme overcomes many of the problems associated with the flat fee tariffing scheme. However, it should be noted that using the total connect time as a measure of the level of service, which cannot determine how much data is transmitted or received via the link, may not be very accurate in measuring the actual bandwidth utilized by the subscriber in many situations. For example, when dealing with data networking, a data network connection to a subscriber may be in existence without data transfer occurring (i.e., no active data traffic). Accordingly, connect time billing, although very simple to implement, is often only very loosely related to the actual utilization of the link by the subscriber. Accordingly, a subscriber may be required to pay for bandwidth not used or to establish and terminate the connection continually in order to avoid such over payment.
Traffic based billing is a more complex tariffing scheme in which the service provider has the ability to sample the data traffic flow over the billing period. The data flow information is collected over a billing cycle period and the subscribers are billed in proportion to the amount of data they transmitted over the service provider""s network. For example, one provider, UUNet, samples each subscriber""s data link, which must be established through a central point for sampling, every five minutes and measures the data rate at the sample time. From these measurements, a traffic profile is constructed that somewhat reflects how much service the subscriber has obtained over a billing period. Traffic based billing has advantages over both flat fee billing and connect time based billing from the operator""s standpoint because it allows the operator to charge subscribers in proportion to their data service usage. Further, the flexibility of traffic based billing encourages usage patterns that favor the operator, e.g. time of day discounts, bulk usage discounts, or conversely heavy usage premium charges, etc.
With traffic based tariffing, the operator is able to charge subscribers in proportion to their network usage as related to network traffic associated with the subscriber, at least to the resolution of the sampling taken. However, with current implementations, the subscriber has no readily available means either to verify independently any of the usage, or to identify the activities of his operation which contribute to the traffic. For example, although the user can certainly discern the times at which the subscriber""s system is inactive and active, the actual amount of communication bandwidth utilized by any particular operation of such a system is likely to be unknown. Accordingly, the bill a subscriber receives is essentially arbitrary, at least from the subscriber""s vantage point, even if it reflects actual usage. Therefore, a disadvantage of this tariffing scheme is that the subscriber has no easy way either to predict or to control his expenditures on data services. Moreover, the typical traffic based tariffing schemes typically are unable to measure actual network resource utilization, and instead measure the bandwidth utilized through a single point.
Connect time and traffic based tariffing methods require some kind of billing data to be collected and processed into a bill for each subscriber. Accordingly, further opportunity for bottlenecking of information communication, as described above with respect to the shared connection to a service provider, is introduced. For example, ISPs typically do this by monitoring the connections to subscribers at a central point, usually the ISP""s point of presence (POP). The connection monitoring measuring equipment (often a Frame Relay switch or a terminal server) outputs data for each user in a suitable format for a billing processor. At the end of each billing period, the billing processor calculates the user""s bill based on the data submitted and the relevant billing plan applied.
FIG. 2 illustrates prior art implementation architecture. Subscriber computers (201A, 201B, 201C) which may transmit data to be routed to another network destination through a frame relay switch (213), a terminal server (209), a router (211) or through a dial up modem connection (207). The frame relay switch (213) and terminal server (209 provide subscriber information (e.g., connect time or a estimate of the amount of data transmitted) to the POP. The service provider uses the information collected to determine the fee that a subscriber should be charged.
The existing implementations, as outlined above, suffer from a number of serious limitations. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the centralized architecture requires all traffic (i.e., both billing information and data) to be accounted to flow through the POP, regardless of destination. Computer user (201B) cannot transmit data directly to computer user (201C), but rather the data must first be transmitted to the terminal server (209) via dial up connection (203A, 219, 207). Even subscribers using Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) service between nearby locations (not shown) must still send all their traffic (billing information and data) to the POP prior to routing the traffic to the final destination. This required routing (i.e., all traffic must flow through a central point) results in higher infrastructure costs for non-centralized traffic flows.
A further disadvantage of the prior art centralized architectures pertains to the lack of redundancy within the systems. Due to the single central routing point (i.e., POP), these systems are inherently prone to catastrophic failure should the POP location be compromised (fire, flood, earthquake, etc.).
An object of the invention is to provide information communication, such as that suitable for use in the transmission of signals such as voice and/or video as well as digital data communication including that of Internet access, to end users at user system native speeds and beyond, such as 100 Mbps Ethernet and even Gigabit Ethernet speeds, to provide a network which is seamless and invisible from the user""s vantage point. The data services provided are preferably orientated to work with existing subscriber equipment (e.g., LANs, WANs and telephony devices) and networking configuration. Data services include LAN transport, Internet access, and virtual private networking.
Another object of the invention is to achieve lower network maintenance, management, and operating costs. Lower ongoing costs are possible given the flexible design options, advanced services, and reduced equipment requirements.
Another object of the invention is to provide for the transport and routing of IP based data communications across a wireless network.
Another object of the invention is to permit subscribers to predict or control expenditures on data services.
Another object of the invention is to permit service providers to charge subscribers in proportion to the amount of bit per second (bps), or other such measurement, they transmit.
Another object of the invention is to permit service providers to charge subscribers in proportion to their actual network usage, giving a resolution not only of a measure of usage through a single point on the network, but the particular portions of the network utilized and to what extent.
Another object of the invention is to provide a decentralized network where traffic is not required to travel through a single point of presence (POP), but rather may be routed in a more direct fashion while still providing the billing advantages offered by the present invention.
Another object of the invention is to provide a decentralize network where information can then be pre-processed locally, or sent directly to a central billing facility, for further processing, eventually resulting in the creation of the subscriber""s bill.
Another object of the invention is to provide a decentralize network where only billing information flows back to a central point, rather than the data traffic.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system that allows user the potential to receive and/or transmit 100 Mbps or greater bps of data.
Another object of the invention is to allow subscribers to share the volume (i.e, each subscriber is provided the full volume of the bandwidth such as by only one subscriber receiving and/or transmitting data during a period of time) not the bandwidth (i.e., all subscribers are provided a portion of the bandwidth available).
Another object of the invention is to provide all subscribers with a data connection having throughput as experienced by the subscriber to meet or exceed that of the subscriber""s system native communication speed, such as a 100 Mbps data connection where the subscriber utilizes systems having a system native 100 Mbps Ethernet connection.
Another object of the invention is to permit monitoring or tracking of the data received and/or transmitted by a subscriber.
Another object of the invention is to provide a high efficiency and fiber-like quality of service (QoS).
Another object of the invention is to permit monitoring of the Quality of Service (QOS) a subscriber receives and to provide a desired QOS, such as priority connection or routing when the network is busy. A further object of the present invention is to provide tariffing based on the QOS provided to the subscriber, preferably including graduation of fees as special services are implemented to provide a subscriber""s desired QOS.
Another object of the invention is to provide an information communication service, such as telephony or data communication services, where subscribers are charged according to the bandwidth actually used and rather than the traditional access rates and tolls.
Another object of the invention is to provide a robust network by supplying multiple radio units, duplicate activity collection systems, service provider points of presence (POPs) and the like.
According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, each node of a network is an access point to the network it collects the relevant traffic statistics for subscribers connecting at that node.
According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, each node of a network is an access point to the network, which collects the relevant traffic statistics for subscribers.
According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, each node of a network contains a network switching/control element.
According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, each node of a network contains CPU, which collects information from the switching element.
According to one aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a network architecture includes distributed processing capability, such as may be provided by Java, C++, or like languages, to provide both the operator and subscriber with up to the minute information about system and service performance. According to a feature of the invention, new services and capabilities can be rapidly added and downloaded to the network equipment without disruption to the network or the subscriber. Thus service problems are identified at the outset, while the subscriber gets xe2x80x9creal timexe2x80x9d feedback on the quality of service obtained plus the opportunity to access and test drive new features, etc.
According to an aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a wireless data network, such as may be established utilizing millimeter wave technology to communicate via microwave transmission, provides inband management capabilities to address radios by a logical or physical address, such as a MAC address, or an Internet Protocol address. According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the data network provides a system where individual elements of the network have information regarding their performance flow back to a central point to allow management of the population of radios.
According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, network information is transmitted throughout the entire radio network using an addressing scheme that includes the physical address or an Internet Protocol address. Accordingly, management of the network may be accomplished from a centralized location with only a single or a few points of presence on the network.
According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a wireless data network provides intelligent radio units that can collect, store and transmit data regarding the network and network subscribers. According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, an intelligent router or other network element is utilized to identify network subscribers or their associated information communications in order to track the actual bandwidth usage by subscriber to provide information that may be used for network utilization management, allocation, and/or billing of the subscriber.
According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a routing directory that contains the logical and/or physical address for addressable network devices, such as routers located in the wireless network or subscriber equipment coupled to the network, which can be updated to incorporate new addresses and new features that may be down loaded without interrupting network services, such as via a control overhead channel. Such information may be utilized according to the present invention for a number of purposes, such as determining the network resources required for transmission of particular data packets, determining an alternate communication path in case of a fault or to avoid a particularly congested link or portion of the network in transmitting a data packet, etc.
According to another aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a centralized network operations center is coupled to the data network that can manage the complete universe of network radios and/or provide other network services, such as a billing service that is based of the actual amount of bandwidth used by a subscriber.
According to one aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a data network spans a plurality of nodes with point-to-point type radio link connections adapted to provide networking features of the present invention. The network preferably includes millimeter wave technology radio stations located at respective nodes, each radio station in radio communication with one or more other radio stations for communicating data between the stations. Also located at each node is a data interface device connected to receive data from the associated radio station. The data interface selectively routes data addressed to the node to the node. Data not addressed to the particular node is combined with data originating at the node and provided to the radio station for transmission to a subsequent node.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.